60 Steps To Prelims: Walk With Confidence

Learning is an art.

Preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Exam is also no less an art. It takes months of perseverance, hard work and discipline to clear this exam. It also takes strength and courage to commit oneself solely to one goal. That is why support from family and friends during the time of preparation is very crucial. Though there cannot be a better support system than family and friends, we can still say that support from teachers, mentors and colleagues cannot be ignored.

Drishti IAS’s vision here is to provide a similar support system to aspirants - one that not only helps at the coaching level but also helps at the community and personal levels.

We believe that every aspirant who will follow these 60 Steps will be able to walk with confidence into the exam hall on 2nd June because they will have covered their bases and attempted the most UPSC relevant current affairs topics there is.

The 60 Steps To Prelims, combined with the interpersonal guidance that aspirants will receive, would be one of a kind program for Drishti IAS, and a very beneficial program for aspirants this year.

Drishti IAS - 60 Steps To Prelims

Why follow our program?

The program that we have developed has its genesis in our Current Affairs Books & Magazines, Prelims Test Series and the Drishti IAS Web portal. We have created strict mechanisms for maintaining quality over what we publish. Our aim is to pick only those topics from current affairs which have a high probability of appearing in the Prelims GS paper this year.

We have worked thoroughly on which would work best - a 50 or a 60 or a 70 day programme, and based on opinions from many experts (and aspirants of course), we have decided on a two month program. This is the ideal, if not the best period of study required for the Prelims. During these two months the sole focus should be to clear the Prelims and nothing else.

Our program also comes bundled with three free full-mock tests. These tests will help aspirants following our program, consolidate their preparation.

Last but most importantly, we are also going to provide academic counselling and support to aspirants who sign up for this program via the comments section or via email & Social Media. One may ask any number of his or her doubts and we will do our best to address these within a very specific period of time.

How can 60 Steps To Prelims help?

This program is meant to supplement an aspirant’s regular Prelims preparation and not replace it. Please keep this in mind.

The program follows its own routine and it is advised that aspirants should devise their own routines in such a way that it becomes possible to follow both without much friction.

The ratio for static topics to dynamic topics is 60:40 which means that out of every 100 questions, 40 will be from current affairs.

In addition to the above list, it is advised that aspirants look up topics that appear in 60 Steps To Prelims. We will provide explanations and solutions to every question asked but it will greatly benefit aspirants if they do some extra reading on their own. The above mentioned book list will come in handy here.

Method for the program:

We have identified static portions of the syllabus keeping in mind the previous year’s Prelims questions. Based on this, we have carefully selected static questions to cover not only probable questions but also basic questions that will help build a strong foundation.

For questions from current affairs, we have consulted extensively with our own team of experts to come up with a pool of questions that can have a high probability of being asked by the UPSC.

We believe that our method of selecting topics and picking questions is one among the best in India and we have great faith that every question you will attempt will be within the bracket of UPSC relevance.

Recommended Study Material Guide

NCERT books are the foundation of Prelims preparation. These are easily available in the market, or downloadable from our website here:

a) The NCERT books should be your first line of reference and should be consulted whenever you come across a difficult question in the 60 Steps program.

b) You will also need a good atlas, preferably the latest. When needed, consult this atlas for any geography related questions.

The book list for reference that we are providing has been meticulously selected. We do not want to overburden you with unnecessary books and therefore the list is short.

a) All of the books mentioned in the reference list need not be read cover to cover - unless you already have - and can be kept solely for review and reference purposes.

b) The exceptions to the above recommendation are - Indian Polity by Laxmikanth & Spectrum Brief History of Modern India - revising these books thoroughly can prove to be greatly beneficial for the Prelims.

c) Where ever we are asking you to refer to websites for further reading, be assured that the content on these websites (including ours) is trustworthy and of high quality.

d) In addition to the above, we are also referring our own publications for the 60 Steps program because we have great faith in the quality of our material. A lot of aspirants have benefited from our books and magazines and we are happy to recommend these whenever we can.